New Tape

[Colin Minihan]

check it out ... its the most disturbing thing ive made to date i think. Very happy with how it turned out. 6 mins long..

http://www.smiley-films.com/movieselection.html

WARNING: explicit material in this movie!

[Marty Martin]

As usual, testing the boundaries... for that I commend you. Delving deeper into areas that most people don't touch. Trying to understand better the things a lot of us don;t want to understand more about... at least, I hope this is what you are doing.

And although I am the first one to say, that I like creating controversy and making people think about things they typically don't even glance at.... I wonder, why not explore other areas? This is getting a bit too monotonous for me. Again... I see a wonderful side to this. But it's also getting a bit old.

I'd like to see something a bit on the lighter side from you. Not because I feel so disturbed by the darker stuff, but because working towards the lighter side has its challenges as well. Just a thought.

I'd like to know if you'd want to work on a film this coming winter man. It is a dark drama that I think would be right up your alley. It really taps into the darker sides of the human mind. It is about the struggles of a boy who wants to be normal and happy, but can't escape from the world he imagines. that's not the whole story, but those are simply the most basic of details.

Email me man... marty.martrin@imagenfilms.com

[Dylan Couper]

Colin
That may be one of the most powerful short films I've seen. Why haven't you dropped out of school and started doing this professionaly yet? How many more years of school do you have?

One thing your film needs is an explicit warning content. Push all the boundries you like, but warn people first.

I have nothing else to say except that every time you release something I am even more impressed than by your last effort.

My favorite shot was the view of the camera lens while the rape was happening. The bed squeeking foley was good, but I think you have a little too much squeek compared to the rest of the sound.


Oh, wait, one negative thing. The blood on the wrists looked like chocolate sauce. Too late to change it now, but if I was taking this to festivals, I'd reshoot it. Maybe show more off camera, since the sliced wrists are hard to make real looking without someone that knows F/X.

I'm really picking on very minor things since the rest of it is so excellent.

PS, sending you an email.

[Nicholi Brossia]

You're hitting on very touchy subjects that, honestly, need to be recognized. There are many sides the the controversial aspect of film making. 9 times out of 10, a film labeled "controversial" is created specifically for shock value and taken way too far just to get a reaction from the audience. I see your films in the 1/10 minority. You're hitting issues that people need to consider. Unfortunately, most don't think about this stuff until it either happens directly to them, or they witness fully detailed experiences. Basically being scared sensible.

Everyone has heard the story about some girl at a party getting drugged and raped, but how many actually stop to think about what happened? That's where your films come in. Yes, your films are disturbing. Dictionary.com defines disturb as "to break up or destroy the tranquillity or settled state of." People don't ordinarily think about this stuff and remain in a settled state of mind until WHAMMO you disturb that tranquility with your movie and open their eyes for a minute, hopefully making a lasting impact. I'd much rather be disturbed by a fabricated movie than the real life situation.

As far as technicalities, I noticed exactly what Dylan did... engrossing sound effects, not so realistic blood, and especially the need for a warning. That was an excellent film and I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work.

[Colin Minihan]

damnit. that blood looks so good too.. but only when shot in color... but the warning thing .. there is one... http://www.smiley-films.com/movieselection.html it warns you that its disturbing.. isnt that good enough???

and thanks for all the comments. I didnt make the film to exploit the horrible shit that happens.. i made it because i know this shit happens often... it would be the same movie if those 2 guys would have waited untill the girl was drunk.. and then got her even more drunk.. and then she would have been passed out... and that happens more often than not.

But in any event.. do you think i should make the bed squeeking not so loud or somthing??? and bring up the sounds of the rapists??? i think its disturbing as is.. but i need to know because i have to clear off this rough footy asap.. so i can start putting the music video footy on my comp.


thanks, and dylan/marty ill be getting back to u via email shortly

[Nicholi Brossia]

I didn't see that warning before, and I even read the description. Its a bit hidden in the text there, so it might be a good idea to provide a highly visible WARNING on the actual newtape.html page. Even if its down at the bottom, since the whole page is in black and white, a red "warning:" would be nicely visible.

I think you did a really good job with the squeeking effects. It seemed to me like you slowly increased the volume which kept me engrossed in the movie because I was so curious of what I was hearing. Sort of like, "is that what I think it is?" As the level increased, it became super obvious and I thought, "oh no..." Add that to the slow zoom in on the camera lens, and you really captured the moment.

As far as the blood, what if you kept the red color of the blood while the rest of the movie is in black and white? Sort of like the little girl's jacket in Schindler's List. If you don't have AfterEffects or anything like that, I'm sure you could get creative with the saturation levels and come up with an eery red blood effect.

[Marty Martin]

i was thinking the same thing about the blood. I would definitely consider doing that. It would really emphasize the pain she's going through.... physically [as well as emotionally on a subconcious level for the audience].

What are you using to edit? In FCP 4 it's pretty easy to just have one color stick out like that.

A disclaimer is definitely needed in the beginning of the film. No doubt about that.

I don't like how at the very end the camera pushes into the sink drain. It's not that I don't like the idea, but the fake zoom at the VERY end is always cheesy to me. Why don't you just fade to black. Start the fade the instant the shot comes onto the screen, and have it hit black before that fake zoom. Otherwise it feels too amature for my taste.

I would also recommend slowing the entire film's speed down to 98%. That alone will give it a more film-like feel. Although you may not be going for that, I think it would draw the audience in a bit more. 2% speed difference really changes things subconciously.

[Federico Dib]

Hi,
I liked this short...
In general I liked the use of b&w and the high contrast... A few years ago I tried to do something with that look, but didn´t get it right..
Also the framing is very likable for me...

I also liked the squeeking sound a lot.. I think it fits very well with the off-frame action...
I´ve been beaten very badly, and also have been very wasted a few times in my life...
and at those times I don´t recall many images images but instead I recall flavors, smells, and sounds.. and strangely the perception of those sounds was very distorted..
Long story short, I´d leave the squeeking like that...
But then again, maybe (and hopefully) not all the audience has been beaten or wasted... so maybe it doesn´t work for others..

About the blood, if you want extreme realism.. then there´s hardly enough blood there.. I´ve seen a sliced wrist and there was "a lot" of blood... Maybe she just cutted a little bit to die even slowly... but I would have used much more blood...

[Colin Minihan]

yeah .. coulda used more blood your right. i like the ending the way it is though.

and im going to screw around and play with colors for red blood.

[Dylan Couper]

Colin

1) You NEED to have the warning as part of the video itself.

2) DO NOT keep just the red colour in the blood and have everything still B&W. That is highschool crap and you are better than that.

3) I was going to get into the amount of blood in my first post, but didn't. Glad it was brought up. Realisticaly (and I expected to see it) there would have been alot more blood than you had, and it would run differently than the blood splatted you showed. If you have the resouces, I would reshoot the blood scenes, maybe use a different formula for the blood.

4) The sound effects during the rape scene. I'd volume down the "squeak" but keep the "creak" of the bed. Know what I mean? Take a bit of the higher frequency out. It sounds a little comical. I would bring up the volume of the grunts from the rapists just a bit. Not too much.

5) If you have the time... How about putting the faintest shadows of the two guys overtop the lens, so we can see a bit of their reflection?

[John Gaspain]

Great flick, I really liked the sound control.

One tip. If you slice your wrists, its best to put 'em in a sink of warm water(cuz it makes it not hurt), also it would look really cool if you rigged up some tubes under her forearms that could "bleed" into the water.

also a during the zoom on the camera rape scene, if you put some sort of flat glass in front of the lens like a 3x3 filter. It would be good to see a reflection of the rapers, for drama of course:/

gas

[Colin Minihan]

wouldnt you have to do a composite if you were to do that...because i was filming directly towards the lens???

[Dylan Couper]

Yes you would, otherwise you'd see your camera too.

[Lathe Austin]

My only problem with it is that the rapist filmed it then sent it to her. I realize this is what sends her over the edge but its also very stupid since the rapist are cleanly in the video. They are giving themselves away by sending her the video. I guess we could assume they put mosaics over their faces but...

It’s a great movie no doubt about it. I was just pointing out something that came into my mind after watching it.


And on a lesser note, I see that in JEt and New Tape, that the girl is the only one that dies, both times. Got some issues there?

I'm just joking with. Looking forward to your next one, and could a film maker ask for more? I think not.

[Sherwin Noorian]

Good short... but I was also confused as to why a rapist would send a video of himself to the girl.